New almanac takes look at world Mormon membership

5:12 PM,
Jan. 17, 2014

Written by

PEGGY FLETCHER STACK
The Salt Lake Tribune

David Stewart felt ill-equipped to preach his Mormon faith in recently opened Russia in 1992, when he arrived there as a young missionary. Sure, he had learned the language, but nothing of the culture he was about to engage. And it certainly wasn't like being at home in Maryland.

Stewart's mission experience didn't match the breathless tales of international growth he had read about in official church magazines, which, he says, focused on "inspiring stories of exceptional members."

The earnest missionary also wondered why other religions - such as Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's ...